Mom shares warning after teen with peanut allergy dies after eating Chips Ahoy cookie

(RNN) – A Florida mom is calling for a change in Chips Ahoy cookie packaging after her daughter died from an allergic reaction to peanuts last month.

Kellie Travers-Stafford brought her plea to Facebook.

“It’s important to us to spread awareness so that this horrible mistake doesn’t happen again,” she said.

On June 25, her daughter Alexi was at a friend’s house when she made a “fatal choice,” she ate a cookie with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in it.

“She went into Anaphylactic shock, stopped breathing and went unconscious,” Travers-Stafford said. “She died within 1 & 1/2 hour of eating the cookie.”

Well aware of her peanut allergy, Alexi was taught it was safe to eat Chips Ahoy cookies if they came from red packaging.

What the family didn’t know was that the red packaging designates chewy Chips Ahoy. It has nothing to do with whether they contain peanuts or not.

“I want to share our story with everyone because we want to spread awareness,” Travers-Stafford said. “The company has different colored packaging to indicate chunky, chewy, or regular but NO screaming warnings about such a fatal ingredient to many people. Especially children.”

On Twitter, Chips Ahoy defended itself, saying it has clear warning labels.

We take allergens very seriously. Chewy Chips Ahoy! made w/ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups packaging clearly shows that it contains peanuts through words and visuals. Package color indicates Chewy, Chunky, or Original. Consumers should always read the label for allergy information.

The family’s post is making the rounds on social media. More than 70,000 people have shared the Facebook post.

An Alexi Stafford Memorial Fund has been established on GoFundMe.

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